Landrieu's presence on committee would help La.

If U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu is appointed to the chairmanship of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, it will be good for Louisiana.

That seems a simple and straightforward premise. But there are those who say she would not always serve Louisiana's interests as well as she should.

But even if that is true, there is no denying that having someone from our home state in the key position on such an important committee will benefit Louisiana in some way.

And either way, the fact is that Landrieu is in line for that position, contingent on an expected domino effect when the current chairman of the finance committee, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., becomes the next ambassador to China. Baucus is expected to be confirmed within the next few weeks.

At that point, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the current energy committee chairman, most likely will replace him. Landrieu, in turn, would be next in line to take the energy committee gavel.

Landrieu has been reluctant to comment prematurely on her possible appointment.

Meanwhile, speculation, support and opposition have been swirling around her.

Support has been coming from oil producing states and oil companies. Opposition, predictably, from the Republican side of the aisle.

GOP leaders in Louisiana say she has supported policies that were not in the state's best interest and has given money to colleagues who voted against the state's interests.

Landrieu has supported some who are usually on the other side of issues that affect Louisiana, but there were good reasons, according a spokesman in Landrieu's Washington office. One was California Sen. Barbara Boxer, who was instrumental in passing the RESTORE Act, which will benefit Louisiana wetlands; others were New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who were leading co-sponsors on the measure to delay a rate increase for federal flood insurance.

This appointment could be good for Louisiana, but it would be especially good for Landrieu. It could go a long way in mitigating the damage done to her re-election campaign by her true-to-the-bitter-end support of the unpopular Affordable Care Act.

Landrieu will defend her Senate seat at the end of this year, with Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, emerging as her chief opponent.

The advantage for the state can last only as long as Landrieu is in office - and that undoubtedly will be a key selling point for keeping her in Washington.

Those advantages are many, said former U.S. Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, the last Louisiana senator to chair the energy committee. Billions of dollars from the oil and navigation industries flowed into Louisiana during his tenure, he told The Daily Advertiser.

Among the legislation passed by Congress were the Natural Gas Policy Act, the Nuclear Waste Act, The Energy Policy Act of 1992 and the the Royalty Relief Act of 1995, which kick-started the then-stagnant deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is the school of thought that Landrieu's appointment to the energy committee, aside from possibly being temporary, might benefit other oil-producing states more than Louisiana.

That may be.

But Johnston summed it up neatly: "What's good for energy is good for Louisiana."

That says it all.

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Landrieu's presence on committee would help La.

If U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu is appointed to the chairmanship of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, it will be good for Louisiana.